Sometimes, teams with coaching vacancies keep their candidates closely guarded until they’ve selected a favorite. Only then will the public hear about the preferred choice, often through a leaked report about the top candidate interviewing or negotiating or going through some other step in the process.

“I mean, it is true, I did interview with the Lakers. I talked to Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss and had a great time talking with those guys. Obviously I go way back with Mitch, teammates for a while and won a couple of championships together, so it was good. That’s basically all I can tell you. It was good, I had a lot of fun talking to them. Hopefully we’ll be talking again soon and we’ll see what happens.”

Dunleavy might be stale, but Scott isn’t expiring inspiring himself. Not having to settle for Dunleavy isn’t such a great outcome if Scott is the alternative.

Scott guided the Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals, had a down-and-up-and-down tenure in New Orleans and then struggled in Cleveland. Is he trending downward – perhaps seeing his coaching skills go out of date as the NBA evolves – or is he a good coach who had bad players recently?

As usual, the truth probably sits between. Scott is not as good a coach as he appeared to be with the Nets and not as bad as he appeared to be with the Cavaliers.

But the Lakers can probably do better than a coach who falls in the middle of that spectrum, even if they give the benefit of the doubt to a former player. There’s plenty of time for them to get there.

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.